Young gets 103 years to life in prison: Man was convicted of abusing children under the age of 5

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By David Smith@SDNDavidSmith

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By David Smith@SDNDavidSmith

Posted Aug. 18, 2014 at 3:10 PM

By David Smith@SDNDavidSmith
Posted Aug. 18, 2014 at 3:10 PM

YREKA

Convicted June 24 on multiple sexual abuse charges, former Hornbrook resident Shawn Young received a sentence Thursday that is expected to put him in prison for over a century.

Young was convicted on a number of counts of sexual penetration with a person under 10 years of age, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age and continuous sexual abuse of a child. Young’s three victims were all under the age of 5 when the crimes were committed.

On Thursday, the court provided an opportunity for victim impact statements to be heard before the sentence was issued.

The mother of one victim told the court that Young’s actions destroyed the innocence of three little girls, “an innocence that they can never get back.”

The woman asked the court to give Young consecutive sentences, rather than concurrent. She argued that, because the victims were abused on multiple occasions and would have to live with the memories of what was done to them for their whole lives, Young should not receive only one sentence.

Statements prepared by the mother of the other victims and the victims themselves were read by prosecutor Monique Neese.

“We have been diagnosed with severe PTSD and ongoing emotional issues because of Shawn,” one statement reads. “[The victims] suffer from a suppressed immune system due to the trauma they have endured. We are having difficulty sleeping and connecting with others. There is a sadness and lingering questions every day. Why? Shawn preyed on us and such a person is not human.”

Neese argued for consecutive sentences and Judge Laura Masunaga agreed, stating that Young had “engaged in opportunistic acts of sexual violence upon the most vulnerable of victims.”

District Attorney Kirk Andrus broke down the sentence in detail Friday, describing Young’s sentence as 18 years plus 85 to life.

According to Andrus, that means Young will serve the 18 year sentence first – by law he must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence – and then he will begin the 85 years to life term. In sum, the sentence is 103 years to life in prison.

“He sentenced these sweet, innocent children to experience the residue of his deviant and abusive behavior that hopefully they can move forward and away from,” Andrus said of the case. “In the meantime he has been required to give the little he had to give in return – all of the freedom that belonged to him for the remainder of his life. It is our hope that this just result brings closure and hope to these children and their families.”